Navigated lateral/medial femoral resection guide

ABSTRACT

A multi-piece knee resection instrument for use in forming an anterior cut, an anterior chamfer cut, a posterior cut and a posterior chamfer cut on a distal femur which has already had a distal surface thereof resected which cuts are for the mounting of a prosthetic implant, has a first resection guide for attachment to the medial or lateral side of the distal femur. The first resection guide has a first surface facing generally anteriorly when mounted and a second surface extending distally from the first surface and angled thereto and a third surface extending generally parallel to the resected distal surface of the femur. A second resection guide is mounted on the first and second surfaces of the first resection guide for performing the anterior and anterior chamfer cuts. A third resection guide is mounted on the third surface of the first resection guide and extends in a medial-lateral direction therefrom across at least part of the resected distal femoral surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the forming of bone cuts on a distal femur.

In particular, the application relates to forming an anterior bone cut,an anterior chamfer bone cut, a posterior bone cut and a posteriorchamfer cut on a distal femur in which the distal bone cut has alreadybeen performed.

Total knee arthroplasty involves replacement of portions of the patella,femur and tibia with artificial components. In particular, a proximalportion of the tibia and a distal portion of the femur are cut away(resected) and replaced with artificial components. In performing thisknee surgery, it has been desirable to minimize the size of the incisionto thereby minimize damage to soft tissue.

In particular, it is necessary to resect the proximal tibia and distalfemur with, among other cuts, a facing pair of planar cuts from whichother bone cuts, in the case of the femur, can be referenced.

In order to make these cuts, resecting the femur and tibia necessitatedsignificant cutting of soft tissue, including muscles, tendons andligaments.

As used herein, when referring to bones or other parts of the body, theterm “proximal” means closer to the heart and the term “distal” meansmore distant from the heart. The term “inferior” means toward the feetand the term “superior” means towards the head. The term “anterior”means towards the front part of the body or the face and the term“posterior” means towards the back of the body. The term “medial” meanstoward the midline of the body and the term “lateral” means away fromthe midline of the body.

There are several types of knee prosthesis known in the art. One type issometimes referred to as a “resurfacing type.” In these prostheses, thearticular surface of the distal femur and the proximal tibia are“resurfaced” with respective metal and plastic condylar-type articularbearing components. Preferably, these components are made of titaniumalloy or a cobalt-chrome alloy such as VITALLIUM® alloy.

One important aspect of these procedures is the correct resection of thedistal femur and proximal tibia. These resections must provide planeswhich are correctly angled in order to properly accept and align theprosthetic components. In particular, the resection planes on the tibiaand femur must be correctly located relative to at least threeparameters: proximal-distal location; varus-valgus angle; andflexion-extension angle.

Moreover, following distal resection, the femur must be further shapedwith the aid of a cutting block, the cutting block must be correctlylocated relative to internal-external rotation, medial-lateral positionand anterior-posterior position. Recently, various computerized systemshave been introduced to aid the practitioner during different surgicalprocedures. These systems improve accuracy of the cuts based onaccurately locating the mechanical axis of the tibia and femur andprovides the ability to verify the cuts made. In these systems, there isutilized multiple video cameras which are deployed above the surgicalsite and a plurality of dynamic reference frame devices also known astrackers. These trackers are attached to body parts and the surgicalinstruments and preferably include light emitting devices, such as lightemitting diodes which are visible to the video cameras. Using softwaredesigned for a particular surgical procedure, a computer receiving inputfrom the camera guides the placements of the surgical instruments withrespect to landmarks on the body. Such systems are shown in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,385,475 and 6,514,259, the teachings of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

In co-pending application Ser. No. 10/768,520 assigned to the assigneeof the present invention, an instrument for resecting the distal facingsurface of the femur from the medial or lateral side is provided. It isdesirable to have a cutting block system which can be attached on themedial or lateral side of the femur for performing the other four bonecuts on the distal femur. It is particularly advantageous to have amulti-piece, preferably, a three piece cutting block, which pieces canbe assembled in a manner so that it can be mounted on the medial orlateral side of the right or left knee and still be able to make thefour bone cuts.

The instrumentation of the present invention includes components forresecting four of the bone cuts on the distal femur and includes analignment system for properly positioning the cutting guide surfacesutilizing an optical tracking system optically coupled to a computersystem. The design of the multi-piece instruments of the presentinvention allows the resection of the distal end to be performedanteriorly-laterally as contrasted with the typical resection systems ofthe prior art in which the resections are all performed from theanterior direction.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0171757 relates to an instrument thatpermits resection of the proximal end of the tibia and distal end of thefemur to be performed either medially or laterally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a multi-piece cutting system and method offorming the anterior, anterior chamfer, posterior and posterior chamfercuts on a distal femur utilizing optical tracking systems andcomputer-aided surgery. The system preferably includes five separatepieces, two of which are used only when aligning the resection guideblock on the distal femur. One of these pieces is an anteriorpositioning arm which mounts on a portion of the resection guide blocksurface of the femur to set the anterior/posterior location on thedistal femur. The second piece used on the block is a removable opticaltracker mount. The tracker preferably includes at least three lightemitting diodes so that the plane where the cut to be made can bedetermined by the computer system via video camera inputs. Use of thetracker allows the surgeon to orient the cutting block free-handedlyadjacent the medial or lateral bone of the distal femur and align thecutting surface in the correct internal/external rotational alignment.By free-hand it is meant that without extramedullary alignment orintramedullary alignment. Once the proper positioning has occurred, thesurgeon then inserts bone pins through the resection guide block intothe femur.

It is an object of the invention to provide a multi-piece resectionguide system for use in performing the anterior, anterior chamfer,posterior and posterior chamfer bone cuts on a distal femur.

It is yet an additional object of the invention to provide a resectionguide system which includes pieces which can assembled in a mannerallowing the mounting of the guide block on either the medial or lateralof either the left or right knee.

It is still an additional object of the invention to provide a guideblock which allows for the modular mounting of an anterior referencingarm, an optical tracker adapter for use with an optical tracking deviceof a navigated instrument system and a modular cutting guide for use inperforming the anterior and anterior chamfer bone cuts.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by a multi-pieceknee resection instrument for resecting the distal femur which has afirst resection guide for attachment to the medial or lateral side ofthe distal femur, which guide has a first surface facing generallyanteriorly when mounted and a second surface extending distally from thefirst surface at an angle thereto and a third surface extendinggenerally parallel to the distal surface of the resected femur. Thefirst and second surfaces can be used to guide a saw blade, however, inthe preferred embodiment, a second resection guide is mounted on thefirst and second surfaces, the guide including a slot for receiving asaw blade of a powered oscillating saw. The instrument also includes athird resection guide mounted on the third surface of the firstresection guide and extending in a medial-lateral direction therefromacross at least part of the distal surface of the femur. The secondresection guide can be mounted on both the first surface of the firstresection guide and the second surface for making the anterior andanterior chamfer cuts on the femur respectively.

The multi-piece resection instrument further includes an anteriorreferencing guide for selective mounting on the first surface of thefirst resection guide and also includes an optical tracker mountable onthe first resection guide in any trackable position. Preferably, theoptical tracker is mounted on the first surface of the first resectionguide. However, as long as the optics of the navigation system can viewthe optical tracker on the first resection, it can be mounted in anyposition thereon. Preferably, the anterior referencing guide includes anarm extending in a medial-lateral direction for contacting the anteriorsurface of the distal femur.

The third resection guide has a first saw guide slot for resecting aposterior surface of the distal femur and a second saw guide slotextending in an anterior/posterior direction along a plane angled withrespect to the coronal plane for making a posterior chamfer cut on thedistal femur. Both the first and third resection guides include aplurality of bores extending towards the bone for receiving bone pinsfor mounting the first and second guides on the femur.

The multi-piece instruments may be supplied as part of a kit in whichthe first portion of the resection guide block and the second portion ofthe resection guide block come in various sizes for use with differentsize femurs. Generally, there are seven different sizes provided. Aplurality of separate cutting guides are provided for making theanterior and anterior chamfer cut, however, such cutting guides, whichare mounted on the first resection block portion may also be of the samesize, although it is possible to have longer guides for larger distalfemurs. Likewise, the modular tracker and anterior referencing arm whichare mounted on the resection block first portion may be of the same sizefor all of the different size first and second portions provided.Preferably, the first and second portion are coupled together by a poston the first portion extending to a bore on the second portion which canthen be locked via a set screw extending through a bore which intersectsthe bore of the second portion and therefore can engage the post of thefirst portion.

A method for using the cutting block to make the anterior bone cut, theanterior chamfer bone cut, the posterior bone cut and the posteriorchamfer bone cut is also disclosed. Initially, the distal femur isresected in a typical manner to form a planar distal surface. Then afirst portion of the resection guide block of the present invention islocated adjacent either the medial or lateral side of the distal femur.The resection guide block is located in the anterior/posterior directionby contacting an anterior surface of the distal femur with an anteriorreferencing arm mounted on the resection guide block. The resectionguide block has a medial-laterally extending second portion having asurface for contacting the resected distal femur and includes saw guideslots for making the posterior bone cut and the posterior chamfer bonecut. The resection guide block is oriented in the anterior/posteriordirection and in internal/external rotation and thereafter pinned to thefemur. The anterior bone cut is made by guiding a saw blade on a firstsurface of the resection guide block first portion and performing theanterior chamfer cut with a saw blade guided on a second surface of theresection guide block first portion and performing the posterior andposterior chamfer cuts with the second portion of the cutting block.

The method can further include the placement of a modular cutting guideon the first and second surfaces of the first portion performed theanterior and anterior chamfer cuts. In accomplishing this, the saw blademay be oriented at an oblique angle, i.e. anterior-lateral oranterior-medial rather than a pure anterior approach.

In the preferred embodiment, the first portion of the resection guidehas a distally extending coupling element and a second portion has acoupling element engageable with the first portion coupling element toform the resection guide block. The second portion includes a couplingelement adjacent each end so that the first and second portions may beassembled in a manner that provides a resection guide block for theright knee with a medial side approach or a lateral side approach forthe left knee and engaging the second end of the second portion with thefirst portion coupling forms a cutting block for the left knee for themedial side or the lateral side of the right knee.

While the anterior/posterior location of the guide block is performedwith the anterior referencing arm, the internal/external rotation is setwith an optical tracker mounted preferably on the first portion of theresection guide block.

When a modular cutting guide is used it may be placed on an anteriorlyfacing surface of the resection guide to perform the anterior cut andmay be removed from that surface and placed on a sloping surface toperform the anterior chamfer cut. Prior to placing the modular cuttingguide on the resection guide block first surface, both the opticaltracker and the anterior referencing instrument are removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood on reading the followingdetailed description of non-limiting embodiments thereof, and onexamining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the multi-piece femoral resection guideof the present invention with the tracker mount and an anteriorreferencing guide mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cutting guide of FIG. 1 with theoptical tracker mounting anterior referencing guide removed with themodular cutting guide located on a surface thereof adapted to cut theanterior surface of the femur;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the second portion of the cutting blockwhich is adapted to cut the posterior chamfer and posterior bone cuts onthe femur;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the second resection block portionshown in FIG. 3 along lines 4—4;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the first portion of the resection guideblock adapted to be mounted adjacent the lateral side of the distalfemur;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the first resection guide blockportion of FIG. 5 along lines 6—6;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the anterior and anteriorchamfer cutting guide adapted for coupling to the resection guide blockfirst portion;

FIG. 7 a is a cross-sectional view of the cutting guide along lines 7a—7 a;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the anterior referencing arm which iscoupled to the resection guide block first portion;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the resection guide arm of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the optical tracker mount which isengageable with the resection guide block first portion;

FIG. 11 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the resection guide instruments of thepresent invention using a plane probe for anterior referencing mountedon the distal femur; and

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the instruments of FIG. 12 removed fromthe distal femur.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a perspective view of themulti-piece femoral resection system of the present invention generallydenoted as 10. Resection system 10 includes a resection guide blockhaving a first portion 12 which is adapted to be mounted on the medialor lateral side of the femur in a manner as will be discussed below. Theresection guide block has a second portion 14 which is coupled to firstportion 12, in the preferred embodiment, by a coupling element 16 which,in the preferred embodiment, is an outwardly extending post 16 which isintegral with first portion 12 and extends through a bore 18 formed inthe second portion 14. Tn the preferred embodiment, there is a bore 18adjacent both a first end 20 and a second end 22 of second portion 14.Having two bores allows first portion 12 to be mounted adjacent toeither end 20 or end 22 of second portion 14 depending on whether theresection system is used on the right or left knee or placed medially orlaterally on the femur. In the preferred embodiment, post 16 is heldwithin bore 18 by a set screw (not shown) which extends into a pair ofbores 24, one located on side 20 and one side 22 of second portion 14.

As can be best seen in FIG. 1, system 10 further includes a post 30which is adapted for mounting an optical tracker which is well known inthe art. System 10 also includes an anterior referencing guide 32 whichcan be attached to first portion 12 and includes an arm 34 for engagingthe anterior surface of the femur to assist in locating the cuttingblock in the anterior/posterior direction on the distal femur. In thepreferred embodiment, system 10 further includes a resection guide 36which can be mounted on first portion 12 and is positionable to assistin cutting the anterior and anterior chamfer bone cuts on the distalfemur. Referring to FIG. 2 cutting guide 36 is positioned on ananteriorly facing surface of first portion 12 and is thus positioned forperforming an anterior cut on the femur. In FIG. 1, cutting guide 36 isplaced on an angled or sloping surface angled with respect to theanteriorly facing surface of block 12 and the distal surface of secondportion 14 and is thus in a position to make the anterior chamfer cut onthe distal femur.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown an enlarged view of the resectionblock second portion 14 detached from the first portion. Portion 14includes a pair of cutting guide slots 40, 42 which are adapted to makethe posterior chamfer cut and the posterior cut on the distal femurrespectively. Portion 14 includes a series of pinholes 46 locatedadjacent an anterior side 48 of portion 14. Holes 46 are designed toreceive bone pins (not shown) which anchor portion 14 to the alreadyresected distal femur after the resection block has been properlylocated. In addition to pinholes 46 are holes 50 which are adapted toreceive medial and lateral mounting pins (not shown).

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a cross-sectional view of portion 14along lines 4—4 of FIG. 3. The cross-section shows the bone contactingproximally facing surface 25, bore 18 including a portion of bore 24 andcutting saw blade slots 40, 42. In addition, FIG. 4 shows across-section of pin 52 which couples a top section 54 of portion 14 toa central section 56 thereof. Section 56 includes a pin 58 which, inturn, couples central section 56 to a posterior section 60 whichassembly makes up the resection block second portion 14. In thepreferred embodiment, pins 52, 58 are located adjacent sides 20, 22 ofsecond portion 14. These pins can be seen in FIGS. 1–3 as extendingthrough the slots of the cutting block. In the preferred embodiment,pins 52, 58 are cylindrical such that a typical oscillating saw blademay be pivoted about each pin when making the required bone cuts. Forexample, in making the posterior bone cut using slot 42, a saw blade ispivoted about each pin 58 adjacent sides 20, 22 to ensure that themedial and lateral edges of the femur are fully resected. The use ofcylindrical pins allow the blade to be inserted from an anterior-lateralor anterior-medial position rather than a purely anterior approach.Obviously, other methods of fabricating second portion 14 are possible,however, pinning three separate segments 54, 56 and 60 together providesa simple and low cost method of manufacturing resection block portion14.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is respectively shown a perspective viewfirst portion 12 of the resection block. In the preferred embodiment,block 12 includes an anterior surface 70 and a sloping surface 72 whichslopes distally from surface 70 towards a distal surface 74. Anteriorfacing surface 70 includes a pair of blind bores 76, 78. Sloping surface72 includes a blind bore 80. In the preferred embodiment, bores 76, 78and 80 are identical in size, i.e. in diameter and in depth. Associatedwith bores 76, 78 and 80 are set screw bores 82, 84 and 86 respectively.Recesses 83 are provided on opposite sides of bores 78, 80. The functionof the bores 76, 78 and 80 and recesses 83 will be discussed in moredetail below.

Distally facing surface 74 includes post 16 which, as discussed above,engages bore 18 of second portion 14. Post 16 includes a flat area 88 onwhich the leading end of a set screw located in each bore 24 can engageto lock the first portion 12 of the resection guide block to secondportion 14 in the correct alignment. Also included in portion 12 are aseries of bores 90 adapted to receive bone pins (not shown) which fixportion 12 to either the medial or lateral sides of the distal femuronce correct alignment is achieved.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 7 a, there is shown the preferred cutting guide36 which includes an outer plate portion 92 and an inner plate portion94 which are spaced to form a cutting guide slot 96 therebetween. Slot96 is formed by the planar facing surfaces of upper and lower parts 92,94. Extending outwardly from lower part 94 is a post 100 which, likepost 16, has a flat area 102 thereon for engaging the leading end of aset screw. In the preferred embodiment, upper plate 92 and lower plate94 may be connected by a pair of cylindrical pins 108 located adjacentends 104, 106 of block 36. Again, a pair of pins 108 adjacent ends 104,106 is provided so that the oscillating saw blade used to resect thebone can be pivoted therearound to ensure that the entire surface of thebone is resected. In the preferred embodiment, the diameter of post 100matches the diameter of bores 76 and 78 of first portion 12 of theresection guide block. Cutting guide 36 includes a pair of anti-rotationnubs 97 which engage recess 83 surrounding both bores 76 and 78.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown the preferred anteriorreferencing instrument 32 of system 10 which includes a pair of posts110 and an arm 34. Posts 110, in the preferred embodiment, are ofidentical design extend along axis 112 from opposite sides of curvedbody 114. Posts 110 have a diameter matching the diameter of bore 78 inresection block first portion 12. Posts 110 include flat areas 115 whichare designed to be engaged by the leading end of a set screw in bore 84.In addition, posts 110 are surrounded by nubs 116 which are adapted toengage in the recesses 83 located on the sides of bore 78 of portion 12.As with cutting guide 36, the nubs engage the recesses and therebyprevents inadvertent or unwanted rotation between the posts and thebore. By having posts 110 extending from both sides of curved bodyportion 114, the anterior referencing instrument can be placed in bore78 with arm 34 in two positions.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown a preferred adapter 30 which has afirst end 120 designed to engage a removable optical tracker (not shown)so that the location of end 120 of adapter 30 can be tracked. Oppositeend 120 is a post 122 which has a diameter identical to the diameter ofbore 76 and includes a flat surface 124 adapted to engage the leadingend of a set screw placed in bore 82 of block portion 12. Adjacent post122 is a rim 126 having a surface which contacts surface 70 of portion12. In the preferred embodiment, end 120 of the adapter 30 includes areferencing element 130 which extends along an axis 131 perpendicular tothe longitudinal axis 128 of adapter 30. Thus, the distance between axis131 and surface 126 is known and programmed into the computer-aidednavigation system so that once post 122 is mounted in bore 76 thegeometric relationships of the parts are known and the spatial locationof surfaces 70, 72 and 74 can be determined by the navigation system.

The method of using the multi-piece resection guide system of thepresent invention starts with the assembly of first portion 12 andsecond portion 14 to form the resection guide block. How the two partsare assembled depends on whether the block is being used to resect theleft or right knee and whether the resection is going to be performedfrom the lateral or medial side. The assembly of parts 10, 12 would beidentical for performing the resection on the left knee from the lateralside or the right knee from the medial side. Conversely, the block wouldbe assembled the same way to perform the resection of the right kneefrom the lateral side as it would for the resection of the left kneefrom the medial side. What is important is that when the first portion12 is placed adjacent the medial or lateral side of the distal femur thesecond portion 12 extends along and in contact with the already resecteddistal surface of the femur. As discussed above, in the preferredembodiment, the coupling of portions 12, 14 is accomplished by insertingpost 16 into bore 18 and tightening a set screw in bore 24 to engageflat surface 88 and thereby lock the correct position of portions 12,14. If desired, locating nubs similar to nubs 97, 116 can be usedadjacent bore 18 to further prevent rotation of portion 12 with respectto portion 14.

After assembly of the resection guide block, optical tracker adapter 30is located in bore 76 and anterior referencing guide 32 is located inbore 78 of portion 12. This is accomplished by inserting theirrespective posts in bores 76, 78 and tightening the respective setscrews to lock adapter 30 and referencing guide 32 in position. In thecase of guide 32, nubs 116 engage in recesses 83 to further preventrelative rotation of arm 34 with respect to resection block portion 12.As shown in FIG. 1, it should be noted that arm 114 of the anteriorreferencing guide is curved to avoid contact with adapter 30 placereferencing arm 34 at a more proximal position on the distal femur. Amodular optical tracker having at least three diodes mounted thereon isthen engaged with end 120 of adapter 30. Such an optical tracker isshown in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/768,520. The surgeon thenuses the anterior referencing arm 34 to adjust the location of portion14 and portion 12 of the resection guide block in the anterior/posteriordirection on the distal femur. The optical tracker is then used to setthe correct internal/external rotational alignment of the assembledresection block. Once the correct positioning is determined, bone pinsare inserted through bores 90 on first portion 12 and bores 46 on secondportion 14 into the femur to fix the resection guide block in thecorrect position.

Once the resection guide block is fixed on the distal femur, adapter 30and anterior referencing guide 32 are removed. Cutting guide 36 is thenmounted in bore 78 with nubs 97 engaging recesses 83 and a set screwextending through bore 84 engaging flat area 102 to rigidly clamp thecutting guide 36 to anterior surface 70 of resection guide first portion12. Once locked in the position, the surgeon uses cutting guide 36 toperform the anterior cut using a powered oscillating saw blade. Afterthe anterior cut is completed, the set screw in bore 84 is loosened andthe cutting guide 36 is removed and the post 100 is inserted into bore80 and surface 72 of portion 12. Again, nubs 97 engage recesses 83 and aset screw in bore 86 is tightened to lock cutting guide 36 in place. Thesurgeon then makes the anterior chamfer cut with the powered oscillatingsaw. Once the anterior chamfer cut is made, the surgeon can perform theposterior cut and the posterior chamfer cut in any desired order byusing portion 14 of the resection guide block. Again, a poweredoscillating saw blade utilizes guide slots 40, 42 to perform these cuts.After all four cuts are made, the bone pins are removed and the entireassembly can be taken off the now fully repaired distal femur. It shouldbe noted that the surgeon can make the cuts in any order but generallythe posterior cuts are made after the anterior cuts. When making theposterior cuts the surgeon can angle the saw blade medially or laterallyfrom a plane perpendicular to the resected distal femoral surface anddoes not have to make the posterior cuts directly from the anteriordirection.

Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown an alternate embodiment of thecutting guide system of the present invention generally denoted as 200.The system includes a body portion 201 which includes a series ofreceptacles 202 for receiving a post 100 of modular cutting guide 36.Block 201 includes an anterior surface 206, a posterior surface 208, aproximally facing surface 210, a distally facing surface 212, and aposterior angled surface 214. The block also has an anterior angledsurface 215 which includes a receptacle 202 but which is covered in FIG.11 by the modular cutting guide 36. Post 100 of modular cutting guide 36is adapted to engage all of the receptacles 202.

The system 200 includes a mounting arm 220 which has a proximally facingsurface adapted to be placed onto a prepared distal surface of thefemur. Arm 220 includes a post similar to post 100 to engage receptacle202 on surface 212 of body 201. Arm 220 includes a series of holes 222for receiving bone pins which engage either the medial or lateral sideof the femur.

Body 201 is positioned in the same manner as first part 12 of the firstembodiment described above. It differs, however, since receptacles 202are placed on surfaces 206, 208, 212, 214 and 215 the modular cuttingguide 36 may be positioned on any of these surfaces. Once body 201 islocated and mounted on either the medial or lateral side of the femurvia pins through holes 50, it would even be possible to place cuttingguide 36 on surface 212 to make the distal resection of the femur ifsuch had not already been accomplished by other means as in thepreferred method of use. If desired, arm 220 could be replaced by secondcutting guide part 14 which can then be used to make the posterior andposterior chamfer cuts. As stated above, modular cutting guide 36 couldbe located on surfaces 208, 214 to also make the posterior and posteriorchamfer cuts without the use of a cutting guide 14. Obviously, in thesystem 200, the post 100 on modular guide 36, arm 220 and, if utilized,the second part 14 would all be designed to engage receptacles 202.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, there is shown yet another embodiment ofthe distal femoral resection instruments of the present invention.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the anterior referencingguide 32 is replaced with a plane probe 300 which is designed to extendthrough the modular cutting guide 36 after it has been mounted on theanterior surface 70 of block 12. Thus, modular cutting guide 36 ismounted in bore 76 or 78 which aligns slot 96 with the anterior surfaceof the femur. Plane probe 300 includes adaptor 30 mounted thereon whichcan receive an optical tracker (not shown) which, as previouslyindicated, preferably includes four light emitting diodes so that anoptical tracking system can track the orientation of the plane probe300. In the preferred embodiment, plane probe 300 includes a tip 302which is adapted to contact the anterior surface of the femur as shownin FIG. 12. Plane probe 300 may be fabricated from thin sheet metal suchas titanium sheet, or may be made from a plastic material. In thepreferred embodiment, plane probe 300 may be designed for use with aleft knee or a right knee, thus requiring a pair of plane probes 300 inany kit supplied. By mounting adaptor 30 on plane probe 300, the adaptor30 for receiving an optical tracker can be eliminated from portion 12.

Except for the elimination of anterior referencing guide 32, theinstrumentation is, in all other respects, the same and includesmounting distal portion 14 on portion 12 in identical manner asdescribed above.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A resection instrument system for preparing the distal femur forreceiving a prosthetic femoral component comprising: a resection guideblock first portion for mounting on the medial or lateral side of thefemur having an anterior surface and a distal surface connected by anangled surface, said distal surface having a first coupling element,said angled surface having a second coupling element and said anteriorsurface having a third coupling element; a resection guide block secondportion for mounting on a resected distal surface of the femur having acoupling element for engaging the first coupling element on the distalsurface of said first portion; a releasable resection tool guide havinga laterally or medially facing cutting tool guide surface releasablymounted on said resection block, first portion via said couplingelement; an anterior referencing instrument for contacting the anteriorfemur having a coupling element engageable with the third couplingelement on said anterior surface of said first portion for coupling saidreferencing instrument to said first portion; and an optical trackermounting element having a coupling element engageable with at least oneof said first portion coupling elements for coupling said trackermounting element thereto.
 2. The resection guide block as set forth inclaim 1 further comprising a cutting guide having a coupling elementengageable with the second and third coupling elements on both saidanterior surface of said first portion and said angled surface of saidfirst portion f or non-rotatably coupling said cutting guide to saidfirst portion.